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Date Complaint Filed: 02/17/2013 Component(s): STRUCTURE Date of Incident: 02/14/2013NHTSA ID Number: 10498446All Products Associated with this Complaint Details 0 Associated DocumentsCrash:No Fire:No Number of Injuries:0 Number of Deaths:0Manufacturer: TESLA MOTORS, INCVehicle Identification No. (VIN): 5YJSA1DN9DF...SUMMARY:I REMOVED THE REAR BUMPER COVER FROM THE CAR TO INSTALL A TRAILER HITCH. THREE OF THE FOUR NUTS WERE NOT TIGHTENED ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE STEEL BUMPER CROSS MEMBER. THE NUTS WERE LOOSELY STARTED ONTO THE STUDS. THE NUTS ARE LOCATED IN AN AREA THAT CANNOT BE INSPECTED WITHOUT DISASSEMBLING THE REAR OF THE CAR. I BELIEVE THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AS IT AFFECTS CRASH CRUMPLE ZONE INTEGRITY AND PROTECTION FOR THE REAR FACING JUMP SEATS IN THIS VEHICLE. THERE WAS NO ACCIDENT AND I DO NO BELIEVE THERE IS A DESIGN PROBLEM. HOWEVER, THERE IS AN ASSEMBLY QUALITY CONTROL ISSUE. *TR

Not many details here. A complaint itself doesn't mean much, does it? Who's filing this anyway? If an owner, then suddenly they're an expert on vehicle structure, crumple zones and manufacturing process? If some random technician, then doubly so. None of which means there couldn't be some issue, however.

I'm not sure I'd have filed a complaint to the NHTSA for finding a bolt loose, but I can see how someone else might feel compelled to do so. I don't think there is a quality control issue, but it is something that Tesla needs to get out in front of. In the other forum there were some Anti-Tesla folks (actually anti-EV) that really jumped on this as a first sign that Tesla was in trouble. They were predicting a recall of the cars to inspect bolts and that the recall would damage the company. Kind of silly, but this is also not something that Tesla can ignore.

I thought there was a thread with the Torlift install where they mentioned the loose bolts ~ 3 out of 4 or something that were only hand tightened but wouldn't change the crash wortyness of the car.
It was more than 1 month ago..

I suspect it's a rare occurrence to see something that looks like a line worker was interrupted in the middle of a job. However, given this incident, the gaps, panel alignment issues (now on Edmunds!) and the end of year rush, hopefully these QC issues are behind Tesla.

My car was started in 2013, and I've noticed only two QC issues: chrome on driver's door does not align with passenger door and the leading edge of the frunk appears to have a vertical gap of about 5mm making it appear not fully closed. Other than that, no observed defects in quality.

Perhaps at annual servicing, Tesla should take off the fascia and check out these various potential bolt issues.

I think the author was a little premature in sending a report to NHTSA. Would have first escalated through Tesla and judged their response to the issue and what they were going to do to investigate/correct.

I know Ford, and probably other automakers use specialized tools that electronically control how many revolvements tool made to tighten the nut. And worker supposed to tighten them in special order, all stats are controlled/recorded and worker just could not not tighten nut because of whatever reason, or at least such thing would be recorded...

I thought there was a thread with the Torlift install where they mentioned the loose bolts ~ 3 out of 4 or something that were only hand tightened but wouldn't change the crash wortyness of the car.
It was more than 1 month ago..

Looking at the 3 loose nuts (out of 8) does it look like those bolts are amber in color, implying the bolts are made of plastic? Or maybe they are anodized? Also it appears there is nothing hanging on that black 'bumper' piece, that it is wrap-around thus not likely to fall off even w/o any nuts at all. The hitch appears to be mated to a lower crosspiece, actually housed within it, so the lower crosspiece is doing all the heavy lifting wrt the hitch. Lot going on here.

Re any recall: taking everyone's S apart to 'look see' runs the risk of bolts being left untightened, or other surprises! When any process becomes routine, inattention to detail can arise. Should my S be flagged due to closeness of VINs to the subject car, I'm not sure I would put it thru this process. I just might put one of these hitches on anyway, thus the effort would go to good use!
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This was discussed in detail on the Tesla forum. The owner who found it and reported it was Pungoteague_Dave. He reported it to Tesla and NHTSA at the same time. Tesla checked his car thoroughly and came to the conclusion it had to be an anomaly. Here is the link to the discussion.

I think he just jumped the gun on reporting it to NHTSA. The original poster alluded to that as well without actually saying it. Thanks to those who pointed to the discussion on the Tesla website, it was an interesting read. I did not find that on a quick search on my own. At least the saga ended well with the original poster saying:

After a fast run around DC and over to Annapolis today, I continue to be blown away by how great this car is. I consider the bumper nut saga to be over at this point, probably a symptom of the year-end rush to get cars out, and a lesson learned at the factory.

And even on the bumper, the warranty is only "voided" if there is a problem AND Tesla can prove the problem was caused by the hitch. Which, to my mind, is a perfectly good reason for the warranty to be invalid.

Tesla can't refuse to fix the car - or even certain parts of the car - just because there is a hitch on it.

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